A Moment In Time
by Lucy2
Summary: Beka goes to Tyr when Dylan receives a message for assistance.
1. Chapter 1

A Moment in Time

By: Lucy

This is a short story I wrote more than 10 years ago. Like with Unbefitting, I pulled it off my ezboard and started messing around with it a little. The story will be the same with a little more added to it. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think.

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"What's up?" Beka asked as she entered Dylan's office. He was looking at several flexis on his desk. When he looked up he smiled at her. He couldn't get used to the change even after months of seeing her daily.

"I have a dilemma," Dylan replied as he gestured toward the flexis. "We are needed for a diplomatic negotiation but I have also received a request for a relief and relocation mission. We can't do both…"

"You want to borrow the Maru for the negotiations," Beka finished for him.

"Actually no," Dylan replied with a soft laugh. Beka was usually good about finishing his thoughts and sentences after being his First Officer for the last six years. "The negotiations are with the Pyrians. I need the Andromeda for the negotiations. The Commonwealth would like the Andromeda present for the negotiations. I need you to take the Maru and help with the relief mission."

"My little ship is helping how?" Beka asked curiously. "The Commonwealth has dozens of large ships perfect for relocating people and delivering relief supplies. What little hive of baby bugs or den full of rodents needs relocation now?"

Dylan handed Beka a flexi with the request on it. It was a request for assistance with no details. Her eyes widened with surprise.

"He is actually asking for help?" Beka was stunned and her voice relayed the fact as she looked at the sender of the message.

"He asked for _our_ help," Dylan smiled as Beka scrutinized the flexi in her hand. There was only a short message on the screen – a request for assistance and a location. "More specifically he has requested **_your_** assistance."

"I can understand requesting your assistance. But my assistance?" Beka asked quizzically as she tapped the flexi on her hand. "You think this message for assistance… is some sort of olive branch? Reaching out to us will somehow …"

"The Commonwealth never wastes an opportunity Beka," Dylan gestured to the flexi in her hand. "I have no idea why he asked for our assistance. However, it is what we do."

"To assist Commonwealth aligned worlds and those whom we are trying to woo into the fold," Beka shook her head. "I believe he has made it clear he has felt no need to let anyone know that he is alive, to let anyone know what he is doing, where he had been for the last two years. He just up and left us. The Commonwealth thinks he's involved in bringing together small groups of Nietzscheans. There is no proof..."

"There is now. If he is growing a Nietzschean power base, at least this might … open a channel for possible … wooing," Dylan leaned back in his chair. "If you would rather not see him …"

"I'll go," Beka looked down at the flexi again. "I have no reason to not go. He asked for our help … and if you can spare the Maru and me … I can go help. If you think it is the right course of action."

"I believe it is the right course of action," Dylan nodded as he leaned forward again with his elbows on the desk. "If nothing else, you can find out what he is up to, how he is progressing and what it means to you, me, the Commonwealth … hell the universe as a whole."

"Well, if the universe is counting on me, I better get right on it," Beka smiled widely. "You know me … Captain Rebecca Valentine … protector of the universe."

"We will be near a slipstream transit point for that system in about six hours," Dylan got up from his desk and walked around before Beka.

"I'll be ready to depart in six hours," Beka looked down at the flexi once again.

"Be careful. If anything seems suspicious, just turn around and come to Flumaria," Dylan put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed them gently.

"We are talking about Nietzscheans Dylan. They arouse suspicion by just being alive," Beka looked up at Dylan. "I'll meet you …"

"High Guard Station R1763," Dylan replied. "In a month."

"I'll be there," Beka gave him a quick smile before turning and departing his office for a little adventure.


	2. Chapter 2

Beka sighed as she guided the Maru through the asteroid field. The star coordinates from the flexi Dylan had given her had taken her on a roller coaster of a ride through the slipstream. When she had finally exited the stream, she had found herself in what appeared to be a deserted system. There was a yellow dwarf star in the center with six orbiting planets. According to her data on the Maru, the system was listed as uninhabitable without terraforming. There was a large asteroid belt between the fifth and sixth planets. Beka had sent out a communication and waited for nearly four hours before she received a response back. It had directed her to the asteroid belt. She was currently following a locator beacon to her rendezvous point.

As she threaded her way through the asteroid field toward her objective, Beka had seen several large asteroids with doored entrances in them. The 'welcoming' lights as she called them were not on so she assumed no one was home or perhaps they were not particularly welcoming of her and her little ship. She had passed several other asteroids with what she assumed to be missile batteries located on them or perhaps plasma cannons. She had the Maru actively scanning the entire asteroid belt as she ventured through the gigantic maze of rocks. The Maru had sounded an alert several times when she passed rocks that appeared to have weapons platforms. The ship was being targeted as she approached. The alert went silent quickly when the ship was no longer targeted. The entire experience had her on edge. However, the uncertainty and unknowing sparked the adventurous side of her and kept her moving toward the coordinates she was given deep inside the asteroid belt.

Beka felt a tingle of apprehension and a slight sense of shock ripple through her when she rounded the next large asteroid and a saw the shipyard looming before her. There were dozens of Nietzschean capital ships docked along a long docking platform which emerged from an asteroid. She saw multiple Garuda class fighters as well as some other ships that appeared to be various noncombat shuttles and transports. Beka continued passed the shipyard which appeared alive with activity.

"Eureka Maru."

Beka was a little surprised when the masculine voice came through an open comm channel. A moment later the face of a man appeared on screen.

"This is the Eureka Maru," Beka replied as she studied the male on screen. The image was pulled in tight on him so she could only see his face. She assumed he was Nietzschean based on where she thought she was.

"Captain Valentine," the male nodded as he looked at her for a moment. "You have come alone as requested."

"I … ummm … yeah," Beka nodded as she looked at the information streaming through her console. "But I guess you know that since you are actively scanning my ship. I was invited here. Your scans and targeting are making me a little … paranoid."

"We had to be certain it was you," the male replied as he looked offscreen for a moment. Beka could hear the sound of several other voices nearby coming through the comm.

"Captain Valentine," the male looked back towards her. "Follow the locator beacon on frequency 671.6 to your docking hangar. The lights will be flashing white and blue for your arrival."

Before Beka could respond the image disappeared from the screen and the Maru announced the comm link had been terminated.

"Stay or go. Stay or go," Beka puzzled as she found the locator beacon on the correct frequency. The Maru pinpointed it in the asteroid field for her. The location was on a mid sized asteroid in the field.

"Who am I kidding," Beka punched the coordinates into the Maru and began to turn toward her next location. After all this time, she was there now and she needed to know what he was up to and what was going on there in this asteroid field in the middle of no-freaking-where.

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Beka paused and put her hands up out to the sides when she emerged from the Maru after landing in the hangar as directed, powering down and securing her ship. Several Nietzschean males met her at the hatch with Gauss guns drawn. Three trained their weapons on her as one approached.

"I am Gucal," the male introduced himself as he walked over to Beka. He looked her over quickly as Beka just stood there with her eyes focused on him.

"You need to leave your weapons on board." He gestured to her forcelance and gun in the holster hanging from her hips.

"Like hell I will," Beka replied as her hands remained where they were. She stood there staring at the male. "You need help? I'm here to help. But I won't step foot onto this asteroid unarmed."

This seemed to cause a problem with her arrival. Gucal seemed uncertain how to proceed at the moment. Beka assumed he knew she was invited and supposed to be there. He was most likely given his orders and her refusal to disarm had him in a quandary at the moment.

Another male approached and whispered to Gucal. He nodded and looked Beka over warily.

"Very well, keep your weapons if it makes you more comfortable," he stepped to the side and gestured for Beka to exit the ship. Beka moved hesitantly from the Maru.

"We will escort you," Gucal informed her as he started across the hanger. Beka hesitated just a moment before following him with an entourage of armed guards surrounding her.


	3. Chapter 3

Beka was led through a series of tunnels. She saw numerous caverns and tunnels leading off this main one. She was ushered into a large chamber. She saw Tyr standing at the far side of the room speaking with several people.

"Wait here," Gucal said before dismissing the others. He spoke to one of the men surrounding Tyr then exited the room. The others soon left, leaving Beka alone on the room with Tyr. Beka had her back to him quietly looking over some star charts and maps projected on the walls.

Tyr turned and studied the woman on the other side of the room. The ship was the Maru and the behavior that had been described to him was Beka-like. However, the woman he was not so sure about as he looked at her back from across the room.

"You are here to help?" Tyr's voice startled Beka a little after standing there for some time alone in the near quiet of her thoughts.

"First, you need to tell me who you are, what you want, and how you came to possess the Eureka Maru," Tyr said as he started across the room toward the female claiming to be Beka Valentine. "Rebecca Valentine is not a …" Tyr's words stopped as Beka turned around to face him.

"Hello Tyr," Beka smiled at the expression on his face. "It has been over two years. We all change." Beka said as she looked him over.

"Except you," Beka smiled again. Same Tyr, same wonderfully beautiful Tyr. Tyr stared at the female in front of him. It was Beka only with long wavy tresses of auburn hair. Tyr had never known Beka as a red-head in the four years they crewed together on the Andromeda.

"You seem … taken aback," Beka said as she walked toward him. "The hair, huh?"

"Yes," Tyr reached out and caressed one long lock that spilled over her shoulder. It was the locks of red hair but also her mere presence before him at the moment. It had been more than two years and her presence in the room still seemed to elicit the same response from him as the first time he laid eyes on her more than six years ago.

"How have you been?" Beka asked as she looked him over slowly. He looked very much like he had when he had left the Andromeda more than two years ago.

After fending off the Magog worldship in a bloody, devastating battle that had lasted for more than a year, as soon as victory was declared by the Commonwealth, Tyr had announced to the crew he was leaving. There was no conversation. There was no discussion. There had been no falling out as far as Beka had known. He walked into the senior crew conference room before a meeting one day while only Dylan, Beka and Harper were in the room and announced he was leaving the Andromeda. Without further word, he turned and walked out.

Beka, Dylan and Harper had all been stunned by the declaration. Dylan had assured them they would clear up the matter after the senior crew meeting. An hour later, as the meeting broke up, Beka learned that after leaving the conference room, Tyr had loaded a small transport shuttle and departed the Andromeda. He had left without another word to any of them. Not even a goodbye. After four years together … he had left them without so much as an explanation.

They had heard nothing from Tyr since he had left Andromeda two years ago. The Commonwealth kept them apprised of the various maneuverings of the Nietzschean prides after the war with the Magog. The Nietzscheans, being frontier dwellers, had been devastated by the invading marauders. Some prides and settlements were nearly annihilated. Even the larger prides had been severely weakened.

It started an interpride civil war just as had taken place after the Fall of the Commonwealth. The Drago-Kazov was still by far the largest, most dominant pride; however, they were not much of a threat to anyone except the Sabra-Jaguar in the last two years. Beka often wondered if this civil between the two major prides would be the one to end all Nietzschean wars. Neither side seemed ready to concede until the other was extinct. So the Commonwealth and its member worlds stayed out of the way. Due to the intense fighting, several slave worlds had been abandoned because the Nietzschean fighters were needed closer to home. The Commonwealth had gained new members this way.

Occasionally, news would reach the Andromeda about Nietzschean stragglers beginning to congregate in some areas of known space. The small groups had never concerned the Commonwealth brass because they were small and insignificant. Beka had kept tabs on them herself for the first few months after reports began filtering in. After a while, she had brought her findings to Dylan. With Andromeda's help, they began tracking and monitoring all these little pockets of Nietzschean togetherness. Recently, certain pockets seemed to have disappeared from their last known locations. The crew had investigated some. No one knew what had become of the Nietzscheans but there appeared to have been no violent reason for their disappearances. Beka thought she knew the answer when she had read the request for assistance. After finding the asteroid colony, she knew her suspicions had been on track all along. Tyr was uniting the prides … the remnants of the prides … in the middle of nowhere. He was building a new Nietzschean Empire one member at a time.

"Fine," he replied as he dropped the lock of hair. His eyes roamed slowly over her face. "You?"

Two and a half years ago, he had walked into the conference room on Andromeda and told them he was leaving. While they were meeting, he had packed up a shuttle and left without further word. It had been one of the most difficult things he had ever done in his adult life. For four years, he had lived with them, been comrades in arms and helped them build and defend the Commonwealth.

In the aftermath of the Magog war, he had identified his opportunity. The devastated prides and small groups of surviving Nietzscheans needed a place, a purpose and a leader. It was his chance to do what he always dreamed of doing … creating a Nietzschean Empire with himself as Alpha. With a plan in mind, Tyr had left the safety of the Andromeda and the security of those he had come to see in a way as his adopted, albeit inferior, family.

He had left like he had because it had been easiest. Dylan would have tried to reason with him and talk him out of it. The ship would have analyzed and pointed out every flaw with his reasoning and plan. Harper would have just been Harper and wanted him to stay for some inexplicable reason. Beka, he was certain, would have just stood to the side with her hands on her hips or crossed over her chest defensively, and looked at him with an expression asking only the question … why. It was an expression which would have made him feel the need to explain to her why he was leaving. It would have been an expression which would have made him want to stay where he was. Of all the crew, her thoughts and opinion were the ones that really mattered to him. He left like he had to avoid her in a way. So he had departed while they were unavailable to stop him.

Since then, he had kept apprised of the activities of the Andromeda Ascendent. He kept up to date on the movements of the Commonwealth as it tried to restore the known worlds to some semblance of civilization once again. It was growing stronger after the Magog devastation. The Drago-Kazov and the Sabra-Jaguar were once again showing their inferiority and lack of vision by fighting one another instead of using the weakness of the Commonwealth, Than, Kalderan Commune and the Pyrians as a time to grow and strengthen the Nietzscheans. Instead of building an Empire, they once again set out to annihilate one another. Tyr hoped they would succeed this time. Then he would never have to deal with either again.

"Fine," Beka replied. "Busy helping those in need."

"Those who need the Commonwealth," Tyr pointed out.

"True," Beka replied. The Nietzscheans weren't too keen on joining so they had been left alone.

"You asked for the Commonwealth's help," Beka pointed out as her gaze met Tyr's. A small smile tugged at her lips as she said the words.

"I asked for Andromeda's assistance. I asked for _**your **_assistance," Tyr insisted as he shook his head ever so slightly. "There is a difference."

"If you need to believe that," Beka replied as she looked around the large cavern. It appeared to be a planning and staging area with the large conference table and all the star charts and maps and plans on monitors throughout the area. She looked up at Tyr and fixed him with a questioning gaze. "Now that you have me here … what ever will you do with me?"


	4. Chapter 4

Beka walked into Tyr's office chamber a week later. She had coordinated efforts to evacuate and move several families and remnants of prides from scattered asteroids colonies in a system five slipjumps from there. They had been attacked and weakened by Magog, Genites, Dragans, and Kalderans. Tyr had taken advantage of the vulnerability to urge them to join the Alliance. They were being relocated to the system. With them came all their resources, all their ships and all their people. Everything they had now belonged to the Nietzschean Empire Tyr was building. However, the remoteness of this system and the strength in numbers would be best for them at the current time.

"Falcon and Ocelot prides are on asteroid 497 and 602," Beka said as she tossed the flexi on Tyr's desk. He was looking at the asteroid chart on the wall. He punched some buttons on the console and a label popped onto the chart.

"You are a tough overseer," Tyr said as he turned to look at her. He had heard a great many refugees talking about the Human who had come to their home, ordered them about and relocated them to their new home. She had been matter of fact, efficient and a bit overzealous as she encouraged them to strip their homes bare. She worked them all hard including any child who could lift a box or use a tool. She had salvaged things from the former homes that Tyr had not considered … even the wiring and fixtures had been torn out of the old homes. He was amassing a store of materials should he ever need them.

"I have things to get done," Beka replied as she walked towards him. She stood beside him and watched as he looked over the downloaded list on materials that had been catalogued into the system from her first relocation job. He had given her an overview of the locations and prides he wanted moved. She had made a plan to get them all moved before she left in three more weeks. She had to move fast and efficiently to get them moved. "I don't have time for pleasantries, niceties or incompetence."

"Incompetence?" Tyr's eyebrow arched as he looked from the list over to her.

"Not all Nietzscheans are blessed with being as perfect as you," Beka teased as she reached out and caressed his bare bicep gently. She patted it after a moment then let her hand drop to her side. Seeing him again had brought to the surface memories and lingering feelings that Beka had thought would have been left long in the past. "They have the same flaws as Humans. In fact the flaws seem exacerbated by being Nietzschean."

"True," Tyr replied. She was referring to those he would consider inferior. However, for now he needed as many united as possible, inferior or not. The universe would sort it all out eventually. The inferior would perish; the strong would survive.

Tyr gazed at Beka as she stood beside him looking at the asteroid chart. She glanced up at him and smiled faintly before focusing on the chart again. She had changed her hair to blonde. She knew it distracted him when he saw her. He was always instantly wary when red haired Beka walked in the room. She knew he liked it much better than the auburn. She had been surprised when she had walked in the first time this trip as a blonde and he had commented on how much nicer it was on her.

Beka reached over to change the image on the console to the list on prides and people to be moved still. She was heading out the next morning for her next assignment. Her movement brought her closer to him than normal. She had noticed he allowed her to approach him much closer than he did any Nietzschean. She was allowed inside his 'personal space' that she had not seen anyone else venture within. She wondered briefly if he had a female in his life at all since he was not wearing a helix.

"Anything else?" Tyr asked as he leaned back against the console. She usually updated him on her plans then went to her guest chamber to sleep. She was lingering longer tonight than she had the other two evening when she had returned to update him.

Beka looked at him for a moment as if deciding something.

"Yes, there is," Beka said as she stepped closer to him. "I have learned in the last few years just how precious life is in the insanity of the universe. After the Magog … the Worldship … the Nietzscheans … I don't have the time or inclination for games or regrets any more. I know just how quickly things can all go to crap and your whole universe can be turned upside down."

"Games or regrets?" Tyr asked as she stepped over between his outstretched legs. She slipped smoothly between his thighs. The words stopped on his lips when Beka's hand slipped up his chest and over his shoulder. Her finger gently urged him forward as she leaned into him. Tyr was momentarily shocked when her mouth brushed lightly over his. Her lips were soft against his as her mouth moved uncertainly over his at first. She feathered lightly kisses against the corner of his mouth. When he did not protest, her lips began to slowly explore his as her gaze remained locked on his. Beka smiled faintly to herself when his lips pressed back against hers lightly. His hands moved to her waist, pulling her slender body closer to his. He growled a soft protest as her fingers tugged his locks, pulling his mouth from hers. She kissed him once firmly on the lips before stepping back.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she turned and walked from the room. Tyr watched her go, dumbfounded by her actions, her exit and his reaction.


End file.
